Ian Hamilton
Ian Hamilton was a notable British poet, editor, and biographer born on March 24, 1938, in Norfolk, England. He gained recognition for founding a poetry magazine called The Review while studying at Oxford, which attracted a community of emerging poets and critics devoted to imagist minimalism. After moving to London, Hamilton served as the poetry and fiction editor for the Times Literary Supplement from 1965 to 1973, where he produced several influential reviews during a time when unsigned critiques were prevalent. He published his first poetry collection, The Visit, in 1970, followed by A Poetry Chronicle, a compilation of essays and reviews.
Hamilton was also instrumental in the launch of The New Review, a broader literary magazine that supported numerous young writers, despite mixed perceptions of his editorial style. His later work included television presentations and biographies, with his biography of Robert Lowell being particularly acclaimed. He was married twice and had children from his marriages and partnerships. Hamilton passed away at the age of 63, leaving behind a legacy as a bold editor and a significant figure in literary criticism.
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Ian Hamilton
Poet
- Born: March 24, 1938
- Birthplace: King's Lynn, Norfolk, England
- Died: December 27, 2001
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Robert Ian Hamilton was born in Norfolk, England, on March 24, 1938. He was the second son of Robert and Daisy Hamilton. He attended the local grammar school in Darlington. When Hamilton was twenty-four years of age and still at Oxford, he founded the Review. The poetry magazine was not known as one to enhance reputations, but it did attract a group of like-minded young poets and critics, such as Hugo Williams and Michael Fried. These young writers were said to make up a school “dedicated to a terse, imagist minimalism: a verse with ’the courage of its constrictions.’”
Hamilton moved to London, where he worked for the Times Literary Supplement as poetry and fiction editor from 1965 to 1973. He was the writer of several of the boldest of the Supplement’s reviews, though he did not take credit for all of these during this time that is known as the “heyday of unsigned reviews.” The Visit, a collection of poems, was published in 1970. A Poetry Chronicle, his collection of essays and reviews, followed closely upon the heels of that poetry collection.
In the early 1970’s, Hamilton was known as “the coming man” and “the Randall Jarrell of his day.” The Review ceased to be in 1972, and the promise of his future seemed to dim until The New Review set him back on that bright path. The New Review was a monthly literary magazine of broader scope than his former publication: Short stories, essays, photographs, interviews, and a gossip column signed “Edward Pygge” were among its offerings.
In the five years of this review’s existence, Hamilton gave work to such new writers as Julian Barnes and Craig Raines. He published the work of such young writers as Tom Paulin, Sean O’Brian, Andrew Morton, and Ian McEwan. While some of his workers and writers found him “terrifying,” others found him “gentle.” Always, it seems, he was bold. On one of the covers of his magazine appeared two nude male artists when no such picture had previously appeared on the cover of a mainstream cultural magazine.
After five years and fifty issues, the arts council cut off funding for The New Review. Hamilton continued to write reviews, but for others’ publications. In the 1980’s, he presented the television program Bookmark. He began to write biographies. His 1983 Robert Lowell: A Biography has been called a masterpiece. His first biography, of J. D. Salinger, met with resistance from its subject; but Hamilton, instead of giving up on the project, made that resistance a part of his book. Matthew Arnold was the final subject for Hamilton the biographer.
Hamilton’s marital history might be said to parallel that of his magazines: he married twice—first to Gisela Dietzel and then to novelist Ahdaf Soeif. With his first wife he had one son. With his second, he had two sons. With his partner Patricia Wheatley, he had a son and a daughter.
Ian Hamilton died at the age of sixty-three. Blake Morrison in his Guardian obituary called him a “combination of hard and soft” and says that he will miss “his entertaining and sardonic company, [and] the literary world will miss a great editor, a moving poet and a critic of unfailing judgment.”